hey all just wanted to throw a quick up date on the suspension saga since
everyone was so helpful. i checked the parts ive got, they are correct. the
shocks are off the shelf bilstein's, not special valving, ill keep that as a
next step / last resort if this adjustment doesn't sort it out.
i also had not oriented the lower perches on the shox correctly to provide
clearance for the hub upright so i was getting a little rubbage on hard
corners. sounded like whales mating.. hot.
so i pulled it all apart last weekend, redid everything, raised the perches
to the highest setting [about 1" north of the lowest groove] and buttoned it
all back up. took me less than 5 hours. i'm getting good at this. =)
sidebar: this thing ROCKS MY WORLD:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=43753
i would GLADLY pay 200$ for that thing. at 30$ it's a rediculous bargain. it
makes spring compression a BREEZE. and works great on annoying aftermarket
springs with very closely spaced coils. its very sturdilly built as well.
took the car for a quick shakedown run [once i realised that the TRE goes in
from the bottom, not the top, boy does THAT throw off alignment] and on
quick reaction it does feel better. the suspension feels quite a bit more
compliant in front. which is the opposite of what i thought would happen,
with my incorrect assumption that i would be preloading the springs by
raising the perches. the car felt much less crashy and [according to mister
subjective's butt dyno] i could feel the suspension had more "breathjing
room" and was allowed to travel more sufficiently to do it's job. the roads
in SF are MISERABLE so there is plenty of opportunity to test ride
complaince.
on one corner near my house, there is a big dip at a fast 90deg corner for a
sewer grate [franklin onto fell goin toward vanness for locals]. it would
completely upset the car before, and throw it almost off the ground on the
rebound. it's much more composed now. cool. my highly accurate straitedge
and level tells me the tire is slightly more vertical which im hoping will
let me get closer to correct alignment and not eat through the edges of my
tires so fast. that would be nice.
1 annoying thing is that it doesnt sit totally level. about 1/2" off side to
side. might have to loosen + retighten the CA's to correct that. although i
was very careful to measure hub to fender distance when i put it back
together. anyone know why they use these stupid bonded bushings in the CA's
and not a free moving pivot? nvh reduction?
the car now looks much better in it's stance [ill post pics later]. it's
just about perfect. a teensy bit of rake to it. what's aggrivating is that
the fronts are full up and rears are full low. which IMO seems like poor
design in the suspension. the f+r adjustment should relate to one another.
i didnt have a chance to test it for long because the cat blew apart at the
slip joint. again. high flow is in the mail from labree. will report back
in once i get a chance to fiddle some more.
good times.
jim "shoulda bought coilovers in the first place" rose